$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime Pilot|Jim Lange

Here is the pilot to the Jim Lange series, The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime. Please be sure to watch to the end for a few bonus clips!
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[@vinniemystery563]

Wink Martindale is The Pilot King !!!

[@alexbarnes4900]

Agreed!!! Thank you Wink!!!!!

[@hdayejr]

What type of airplane does he fly? 😀

[@therealbrentrolland]

Thank you, Wink and team, for all of these fabulous pilots!!

[@PGTransformed]

This show definitely deserves to be the next Non-Fremantle program on BUZZR.

[@christophercotton9048]

This show is held by Warner Bros.-Discovery Television.

[@jacobtoadstool492]

I agree. But Buzzr & Fremantle would have to get permission & paid Warner Bros. Discovery to let the show aur on Buzzr.

[@SDGamer638]

In actuality, I believe the underlying rights are with Grupo Televisa. The primary station this series aired on was XETV in Tijuana/San Diego, and when this series was produced they were still an English language station. XETV (Formerly FOX 6, San Diego 6, and CW 6) was, and still is, owned by Grupo Televisa S.A. B. XETV went full Spanish language in 2017 after nearly 65 years as an English language station. The full history of XETV can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XETV-TDT

[@jaywilliams896]

This show would be perfect for the MAX streaming service.@@christophercotton9048

[@Musicradio77Network]

@@jacobtoadstool492Why not replace reruns of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” and put “$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime” to Discovery Family which is owned by WBD.

[@jerwar933]

I remember when this originally aired when I was a kid and falling in love with it! I was surprised a show with a prize so big didn't get picked up, but at 10, it was all about the fun for me!

[@glennleider4107]

I remember one episode where B was the stinger letter. When one of the contestants picked it, after the stinger sound, Wink commented: “Too bad! Stung by a B.” The audience response was a combination of laughs and groans for the poor pun.

[@tirmyta]

There's a new musical talent program for Gregorian monks. It's called $1,000,000 Chants of a Lifetime.

[@hdayejr]

Chuck Donegan return keyboard

[@jackcooperincorporated]

wink is certainly BLESSING us today!

[@montana_patriot]

3 pilots in 2 days, wink is on a roll this week.

[@jasejj]

This format definitely had legs - a UK version named "All Clued Up" was a Sunday evening staple for a number of years in the late '80s/early '90s, and didn't rely on big prize jackpots to sell itself either. It was only cancelled because the producers (TVS) lost their broadcast licence (in a particularly British twist they lost because they bid too MUCH and were deemed too overstretched to maintain quality at that level) and cut their production budget right back in their last year on air.

[@QHMCQ]

Wow...LOL...umm...WOW. Those final few minutes were the epitome of kitsch. Glad they dropped some of that when the show actually went to series. As usual though, GREAT upload, these pilots are true treasures and gifts to be able to see. Thank you, sir!

[@jasonporter1071]

One of my favorite game shows from back in the day.

[@mpfromdaov]

One of my earliest memories is of watching the first time $1M was won on this show.

[@scootover7]

Loved this show as a kid, and still love it today. I personally would love to see either Buzzr pick up this show (along with Bumper Stumpers, Headline Chasers, High Rollers). I also think this show should get a reboot in primetime

[@blind_t2]

seriously, this show should get a primetime reboot. just up the cash, maybe a 10 million prize and we good. I say the same guys who do the effects for those talent show finales like voice or AGT, they get brought for the show. would actually give the pyro more work with a full on display for those that go all the way and win the top prize.

[@benkizer9509]

The set was amazing and $1,000,000 as the top prize was remarkable at the time. The game itself kind of reminds me of a weaker version of Scrabble and Wheel of Fortune, and while Jim Lange was terrific on The Dating Game, I just never was a fan of his hosting outside of that program. He was serviceably average on most shows he hosted. I think the show was just another of the many victims of the Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy buzzsaw at the time that cancelled many other game shows (Tic-Tac-Dough, Joker's Wild, Let's Make a Deal, Syndicated Family Feud, Syndicated Price, Syndicated Card Sharks, Break the Bank, etc.)

[@knightrdrx]

i used to watch this as a kid with my parents. its as if they replaced Vanna with a giant computer.

[@gilwood7530]

This was a great show ! Thanks WINK for all the fun flash backs to a simpler time

[@GCBlues45]

The pilot looks like regular show just a little different. I am glad it became a actual show.

[@Netstryke]

I remember CFMT using pieces of the pilot in their premiere commercial back in the day.

[@Musicradio77Network]

29:25 is the Telepictures logo which was superimposed, but they didn’t add Lorimar until a year later when it became Lorimar/Telepictures in early fall of 1986 with the prototype “L-T Tower” logo being superimposed which lasted about two weeks before it went to the “Crashing Comets” logo where it remained until 1989.

[@donaldhsmiley5723]

This show was so ahead of its time as far as prize money was concerned. I watched this show religiously growing up as we switched from Jeopardy to this. Shame it didn't last beyond the one season.

[@wisp2007]

Kind of. If I remember correctly the money was only paid out in $40,000 installments per year up to 2011.

[@kevinlacson67]

That's My Fave Gameshow❤💵 ThankYou Team Wink Godbless Lovelots & Thanks A Million 👍😊✨ #ChanceOfALifetime #JimLange #WinkMartindale

[@alkohalak8199]

Those piles of old $100 bills. Really sold the show.

[@ericvansickle4305]

I remember after a while, they changed the number of games won from five to three, and after each win, Jim tempted the champs with a payout to quit.

[@ChuckD79]

It was always three wins for the actual series...sometime between the pilot and the premiere, the producers knocked it down.

[@robbernath]

Game play was basically the same as Scrabble with a few key differences (multiple words in each round, teams instead of single players, "stinger" instead of "stopper" but with the same effect of ending a player's turn). A little bit of Password and Wheel of Fortune as well.

[@ThunderFist1978]

Also, Scrabble was back and forth, so you were guaranteed a turn, which is not true of Chance Of A Lifetime.

[@ScottNapolitan]

I almost forgot that, "You look marvelous," was from SNL!😂

[@OtakuLogan2017]

The fact they have a marching band when the couple wins the big one is crazy, Imagine that being used when someone won the million on WWTBAM> lol

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

Whoa!!!! A $1,000,000!!!!!!

[@kingporter67]

This was from 1985, this was also the very first game show ever that somebody can win one million dollars and the late, super great Jim Lange was awesome hosting this game show treasured classic!!

[@tyrese3745]

At that time, he was still hosting the one-season revival of the $100,000 Name That Tune, right?

[@witherblaze]

Did the Big Spin debut in 1984?

[@matthewdempsey8852]

27:53 Marine Corps March theme after the Million Dollar win.

[@Crystalpoodleblack]

This reminds me of scrabble mixed with jumble

[@PGTransformed]

Also, like Wheel of Fortune without the Wheel.

[@alfonsogreen2722]

Wow 1 of my favorites

[@sharptoothtrex4486]

How silly it is me pressing an unlit letter like Q makes the audience laugh out loud.

[@andyrose5616]

I don’t think it’s a secret that off-air pilots were staged to one degree or another, but I don’t think I’ve seen another one that went to such lengths to establish a fictional week-long run so they could show stations how they would tease the jackpot and how a win would pay off.

[@ChuckD79]

Me either...while pilots commonly have fake "returning champs" to give the appearance of them being typical series episodes, they really went the extra mile here to show a couple progressing up the ladder until they successfully won the grand prize, including those sample promos!

[@wisp2007]

the colors on the pilot are bolder than they were on the aired show. also, did not expect the random promos. if this pilot was going through the circuit to sell, why make a promo for it and attach a station to it (in this case it seems to be KMID TV of Midland TX)?

[@AdamJ617]

Well, I assume they chose KMID because it was owned then by TelePictures.

[@wisp2007]

@@AdamJ617 which is weird because i checked the newspaper archives of the Odessa American and the show didn't even air in that market at all

[@tyrese3745]

27:58 Wow! Now *that’s* what I call a celebration! A marching band coming out from behind the stage performing the “Marines’ Hymn” while Chuck & Heidi’s family congratulates the couple. It’s just like winning the state lottery. Of course, this was just pilot episodes. But man! That’s definitely something to feel excited about.

[@ksonchannel5261]

@ 22:34 I think this promo would've aired on KMID in Midland, TX because it's actually a Pilot Runthrough thing. #JustThinking

[@wisp2007]

which is weird because according to my research, KMID didn't even pick it up.

[@matthewdempsey8852]

At the time KMID was owned by Telepictures which by 1986 when the series premiered it merged with Lorimar.

[@ebrenner5059]

The bonus had a different losing buzzer. The more familar losing buzzer I believe became the wrong guess buzzer on lmad 90.

[@cheyenewyoming1724]

this couple plunged at needle's hole, on the 4th day they drove the unusual beat the buzzer

[@MauriceMPI]

Hashtag - 1,000,000 ways to beat a game show.

[@peaceandsolepodcasthost6922]

I hope they paid the couples on this pilot well since most pilots aren't played for real cash. That Marine and his wife really had to suffer through 5 games to build the tension, too!

[@JonesDylan874]

POWERBUCKS! Love seeing game show pilots!

[@NoahRonaldo22]

Heyyyyyyy Dylan

[@krisvalderrama9043]

seriously, they have to return this game to tv

[@Englishham]

The British version was called All Clued Up

[@JohnWatsonPuppetChannel]

The show was awesome. I liked season one better than season two because at least they went for just the cash in season one.

[@discoweasel1977]

Five days for that couple to win $1,000,000 is a very long time. Because this is the pilot episode of this show, they reduced it to three days, and in between their bonus round wins, Jim Lange asks the couples to take home cash prizes or come back again on the next shows.

[@brandonking6617]

So apparently at around 29:26, this is the only episode where the Telepictures Corporation logo was shown at the end of first episode of "The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime". However, the early version of the Lorimar-Telepictures prototype logo wasn't introduced when "Perfect Match" debuted just one week later on January 13th of that year. Ironically during the 1985-1986 season: "The All New Let's Make a Deal", "Catchphrase" & "Love Connection" still uses the Telepictures Corporation logo before the Lorimar-Telepictures logo was introduced.

[@PowerRangersandAnimeUnite]

Significant differences between this pilot and the actual series: The pilot has no $25 puzzle round. Just a $50 round and at least two $100 rounds. The actual series added a $25 round. No commercial break between puzzle rounds 2 and 3 in the pilot. In the pilot, both teams kept all the money they picked up in the puzzle rounds. In the actual series, for whatever reason, only the winning teams kept all their money, and the runner-up teams won consolation prizes. In the pilot, five bonus round wins were required to win $1,000,000 (exceedingly too difficult, AFAIC). The actual series reduced it to three. In the pilot, only five words were required to win the bonus round. The actual series slightly increased it to six. In the pilot, after winning the bonus round, no money was offered to the champion team to quit. The offer was added to the actual series. The actual series had no marching band. The pilot had four security guards. This was reduced in the actual series.

[@ericvansickle4305]

I think they had the marching band because one member of the original champion couple was a Marine, and they probably planned on playing the Marine Corps Hymn upon the change of them winning.

[@PGTransformed]

Yep! Season 1 had two guards. For Season 2, and one guard was replaced by former Star Search finalist Karen Thomas as co-host.

[@ThunderFist1978]

Five days in a row? I always remembered it being three. When did it change?

[@americanpatriot6484]

Looked like a fun show.

[@alkohalak8199]

It was. Very suspenseful at times.

[@jasonbeard4713]

Great pilot and great show which we watched every night.

[@tyrese3745]

27:50 YES, SIR!

[@KrakenMan5853]

That was a good game from Bob Synes (Full House/College Mad House), and David Stanley and Scott Stone of the future Stone Stanley Productions (Shop til you Drop). I could've seen this rebooted when the "Millionaire" craze hit and it might've suceeded. I could see it rebooted now. But, not for a million. It would be for normal money like the UK version "All Clued Up!"

[@andrewschroy6368]

I'm kinda curious when they switched from Chuck Riley to his brother, Michael Hanks, doing voice-overs for the show's promos...

[@austinl169]

How many times did Jim Lange say "one million dollars"? OMG... 😂

[@anthonycipriano3070]

The price is right sirens, emergency vehicle sirens, and a honking horn should've gone off for million dollars win

[@terryleemangrumii8566]

Think this was taped between Fall 1984-1985 for pickup in syndication for Fall 1985, but Catch Phrase got picked up instead, and Chance Of A Lifetime got picked up in its place after Catch Phrase's cancellation for a Winter 1986 premiere on January 6th, 1986. And who hired four security guards in black instead of two security guards in white?

[@Lupton2000]

Would have been spring 1985 at the earliest (I imagine Jim was told in early 1985 that Name That Tune was cancelled).

[@teresapflaumer5717]

One of my all-time favorite game shows! In Phila it aired on KYW Channel 3 in the afternoon.

[@tyrese3745]

WOR-TV Channel 9 (now WWOR) carried the show in its entirety.

[@ScottNapolitan]

Thank you for posting this!👍 By the way, is there a way to see their next four days in their entireties?

[@ScottNapolitan]

Jim didn’t even ask the couples who they wanted to play for puzzle three.

[@jeprice08]

This better be real! You had me going for a while!

[@michaelfalkner1186]

I think five would've been better than the three they actually went with...

[@ryanstrnad8442]

Oh, Gilbert's announcing the pilot! He didnt do the first few weeks this show aired, would probably suggest he wasnt available but they tabbed that "Mark" guy to keep his seat warm for him. That Mark incidentally was the most boring game show announcer I have ever heard.

[@RobertHesterEntertainment]

YAS!!!!!

[@ScottNapolitan]

8:25 How expensive?😂

[@NoahRonaldo22]

$1,000,000

[@abhiramakella7146]

27:50 Bruce Springsteen.

[@AdamJ617]

Not to add insult to injury, but I somehow loved the sound the stinger made when it was chosen.

[@mrnmrsifl]

In the 2nd season of the actual show, I thought it was hilarious when the audience (or "audience") would boo the stinger every time Jim showed it.

[@ScottNapolitan]

5 days?!

[@alexhoule1824]

This was the pilot. They reduced it to 3 days when they picked up the series.

[@terryleemangrumii8566]

​@alexhoule1824 Plus, there is no option after each bonus round win (days 1-4) to take a cash bonus after each bonus win and leave undefeated. I would've made the bonus buyouts $5,000 for Day 1, $10,000 for Day 2, $25,000 for Day 3, and finally, $100,000 for Day 4

[@Musicradio77Network]

This was only for the pilot. The series goes for 3 days instead of 5 where the couple will win a million dollars.

[@ScottNapolitan]

@@alexhoule1824 I see. Pilot episodes tend to be very different.

[@ScottNapolitan]

@@Musicradio77Network Interesting, it just goes to show you how different a pilot episode usually is, in fact the first season of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego had two pilot episodes with different scoring systems. Very big difference between premiere and pilot.

[@ScottNapolitan]

Nobody hit the star.

[@mrceleb2006]

This was the game show Jay Stewart should have announced!

[@PowerRangersandAnimeUnite]

What difference would that have made? Johnny Gilbert was perfect for this.

[@terryleemangrumii8566]

What was the name of the track played as the theme song for $1,000,000 Chance Of A Lifetime?

[@PowerRangersandAnimeUnite]

There was no name. It was pretty much exclusive to the show. The theme used in the later half of the series was pretty much similar, with a more modern twist.

[@terryleemangrumii8566]

@PowerRangersandAnimeUnite It was used on sports programs before this game was conceptualized, like on Olympic specials and Notre Dame football.

[@lobstertexas]

"The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime Theme" 🙃

[@matthewdempsey8852]

@@terryleemangrumii8566 yeah that theme was used as the theme for the defunct MetroSports syndicated network.